Cowboy to the Rescue by Stella Bagwell

means that my mother is nothing like yours. She’s been married six times. Who knows? The next time I call her, it might be seven.”
    â€œWhew! And I was concerned about Mom marrying a second time.”
    She sighed. “Your mother is a steadfast saint compared to mine.”
    â€œWhat’s up with your mother and all the marriages?”
    Christina shrugged. “She’s looking for something to make her happy,” she said wearily. “Unfortunately, she believes she’ll find it in a man.”
    â€œOuch. You sound very cynical. Do I need to apologize for being male?” he teased.
    She tried to laugh. “No. Just never compare me to my mother. I’m not a man hunter.”
    â€œThat’s not true,” he countered as they reached the swinging doors of the kitchen.
    Halting in her tracks, she turned an offended frown on him. “I beg your pardon?”
    â€œYou are hunting a man,” he explained. “Your brother.”
    She visibly relaxed. “Oh. Yes. But that’s different.”
    Taking hold of her hand, he passed his thumb softly, sensuously over the back of it. “So what you’re trying to tell me is that you’re not looking for a husband?”
    Her head bobbed jerkily up and down as a nervous lump thickened her throat. They were walking on treacherous ground, and the fact that there was no one around to interrupt them made her even more wary. “That’s right. Setting out to deliberately find a spouse is…well—”
    â€œUnromantic?”
    â€œYes. Love doesn’t happen by design.”
    The dimples in his cheeks made Christina wonder if he was finding her attitude very amusing, or if he was simply enjoying this intimate exchange with her. Either way, her heart was fluttering so madly, she wondered what was keeping her from fainting.
    â€œAnd you think love is an important ingredient for marriage?” he asked.
    Just hearing him say the word “love” was enough to steal Christina’s breath. Which made her feel like even more of an idiot for reacting so strongly to this man. “It’s the essential ingredient. Now, do you think we can go in to our supper? This conversation is ridiculous.”
    His smile slowly turned suggestive. “The conversation might be senseless, but this isn’t.”
    Christina was trying to make sense of his words when she suddenly found his hands on her shoulders and his head lowering to hers. Stunned by the idea that he was about to kiss her, she mentally shouted a warning to herself to turn her head, to step back and away from him. Yet her body refused to obey the signals of her brain. Instead, she felt her chin lift and her lips part before the totally male taste of him shattered her senses.
    Like a merry-go-round moving ever so slowly, Christina stood stock-still, her breath stuck somewhere in the middle of her chest as his lips made a soft, thorough foray of hers.
    Heat rushed through her body, setting off tingling explosions along her skin, behind her eyes, even in the tips of her fingers. Mindlessly, she began to kiss him back, began to want and need the connection to continue.
    She was drifting to some sweet, heavenly place when he finally lifted his head. The shock of the separation instantly jerked her back to the reality of the dimly lit hallway and his serious face lingering just above hers.
    Licking her burning lips, she hauled in a hoarse breath. “Maybe you ought to explain what that was all about.”
    With a forefinger beneath her chin, he closed her mouth, then traced the curve of her upper lip. “You might not be looking for a man, Christina, but I’m looking for a woman. And I’m trying to figure out if the woman I’m looking for is you.”

Chapter Four
    C onfusion swirled inside Christina. She couldn’t deny it was flattering to have a sexy man like Lex attracted to her. Yet she realized the foolishness of taking him